Day 2

30 grams of seeds of old varieties for a farming family in Mozambique

Abundant harvests through old varieties

A variety of fruits, vegetables and grains to combat hunger

Corn doesn’t always have to be yellow. It comes in many different colors: blue, black, red, violet, white, and even multicolored cobs. The different varieties can be eaten fresh, cooked, or ground into flour to make items like flatbreads. Similarly, carrots were not originally orange but white, yellow, or violet. The first orange carrots can be seen in Dutch paintings from the 17th century. This has led to the assumption that the Dutch bred carrots in their national color!

Today, almost all carrots are orange. But it’s worth rediscovering the old varieties. For instance, white carrots are very mild, and violet ones are particularly sweet. Xitonga, Raposta, and Kenha are examples of local maize varieties from Mozambique. These varieties were almost lost but are now being cultivated again. The more diverse the varieties, the more varied and healthier our diets can be. “And besides, the old varieties simply taste better,” explains Emilia Francisco, a farmer from Mozambique.

A variety of fruits, vegetables and grains to combat hunger

Children's book author Kai Lüftner tells you why your support makes a real difference in Mozambique!

need

Securing food supplies for farming families threatened by hunger and climate change

activity

The farmers' association UNAC creates community fields for and with small farmers, obtains seeds, builds seed stores and organizes seed markets

Measurable performance

Amount of seed of old varieties obtained and number of farming families receiving it for sowing and reproduction

Result

The farming families can provide for themselves, secure their harvests for the future and exchange their self-produced seeds on local markets

Systemically relevant impact

Fewer people are suffering from hunger. Diets are becoming healthier, agriculture is becoming more ecological and biodiversity in the fields is increasing

Hintergrund

In Mozambique, there are many monocultures where only one crop variety is grown in fields, often using high-yield hybrid seeds. These seeds promise good harvests. The Mozambican government has also promoted and supported this type of seed to reduce poverty and hunger in the country. However, the plan did not succeed. In recent years, the number of people suffering from hunger in Mozambique has actually increased. Hybrid seeds have many disadvantages: they require chemical pesticides and expensive synthetic fertilizers, which heavily burden soil and water.

Another issue is that hybrid seeds produced by the agricultural industry cannot be reproduced. Farmers must purchase new seeds for every planting, trapping farming families in Mozambique in a dependency on industrial products they often cannot afford (Urhahn et al., 2020). About two-thirds of the population in central Mozambique is considered extremely poor, and around 70 percent of families rely on small-scale farming (BMZ, 2023).

Rediscovering and cultivating local crop varieties could provide a way out of poverty and enable healthy nutrition. Farming families can save seeds from part of their harvest for the next planting. Growing robust and diverse varieties eliminates the need for toxic pesticides and synthetic fertilizers.

Small-scale farmers are working together to create "seed banks" where seeds can be stored securely and exchanged among themselves. They test and experiment to find which varieties are best suited for different soils and conditions and which combinations yield the most diverse and abundant harvests. Typically, local seeds are better adapted to the soil and require less water than industrial seeds.

The diversity of different varieties reduces the risk of complete crop failure when conditions change due to extreme weather, such as droughts or heavy rainfall. This becomes increasingly important as climate change progresses.

4o

The good deed

Your good deed enables a farming family in Mozambique to receive 30 grams of seeds from traditional varieties. Through a network of farmers, the INKOTA partner UNAC multiplies seeds of resilient local varieties of fruits, vegetables, and grains. On community fields, farmers learn how to sustainably produce seeds using agroecological methods and achieve good harvests on their own fields.

To support this, they receive starter kits with tools. Together, they build seed storage facilities and organize seed markets for exchanging and trading local varieties. This helps spread the seeds and knowledge about sustainable farming methods throughout the region.

With agroecological farming, the farmers contribute to nature conservation and biodiversity while ensuring sufficient food for their families. Food diversity increases, harvests become more resilient to crises, and both the nutrition and health of the people improve.

About Mozambique

Maputo

Capital city

33,897,354

population

as of 2023

608.4

Gross domestic product per capita per year in USD

as of 2023

0.461

Human Development Index (Human Development Index)

as of 2023/2024

Anyone travelling through Mozambique will often meet people who speak fluent German, even in the smallest villages. They worked as contract workers in the GDR.

About the organization and further information